The vessel is one of four Kirov Class battle cruisers built by Russia – referred to in Russian as “heavy missile cruisers”– and which comprise the four largest military ships in the world. The Pyotr Veliky is powered by two nuclear reactors.

The giant Kirov Class vessels began taking to the seas in the late 1980s and mid 1990s and are capable of engaging large surface ships and providing defenses for the fleet against air and submarine attacks, according to the Naval Technology portal.